For the first time in almost 20 years, the pope and the president of Iran met face-to-face on Tuesday to discuss significant matters that affect both leaders in today’s evolving geopolitical and religious landscape.
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Some of the marble statues that were covered up with wooden panels on the occasion of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s visit are seen at the Capitoline Museums, in Rome, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. “I ask you to pray for me”, Rouhani said.
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Rouhani is on a four-day trip to Italy and France, looking to rebuild Iranian relations with the West some two weeks after financial sanctions on Tehran were rolled back following the implementation of its nuclear deal with world powers.
Italy also sees Iran as a potential peacemaker for Syria.
Rouhani gave the pope a book of reproductions by painter Mahmoud Farshchian, and a rug handmade in the Iranian holy city of Ghomin.
Francis can help promote the “thaw in diplomatic relations between Iran and other countries”, much as he did with Cuba and the USA, the Rev. Bernardo Cervellera, editor of the Rome-based Asia News, told The Wall Street Journal. The JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal, is an agreement signed in Vienna on July 14, 2015, between Iran and the United States, UK, Russia, China and Germany.
The ridicule surrounding the Italian government’s effort to hide potentially offensive artwork took on a life of its own on social media, as critics posted doctored images depicting Rouhani and the pope standing in front of nude pieces. The trip was originally planned for November but postponed by the attacks in Paris.
Rouhani is due to address a conference of entrepreneurs and industrial leaders in Rome on Tuesday.
Italy rolled out the red carpet to Rouhani and his 120-member delegation of business leaders and cabinet ministers, seeing Shi’ite Muslim Iran as a possible partner in the worldwide coalition against Sunni Muslim Islamic State insurgents. In return, the Pope presented Rouhani with a medallion of St Martin and copies of the Pope’s encyclical on the environment, in English and Arabic.
Iran, which agreed to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for an end to economic sanctions, is eager to carve out a bigger role in mediating Middle East conflicts.
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Rouhani told reporters the political talks leading to the nuclear deal could provide the blueprint for pursuing peace in the Middle East. The pope said he hoped that the Iranian deal would “contribute to creating a climate of détente in the region”.
